BY JULIE SICKELHotel Data Breaches:Can You Protect Business Travelers?

The avalanche began with Starwood. On Nov. 20, 2015, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
announced that malware had infected point-of-sale systems at 54 of its
North American hotels, including
26 Westins, 18 Sheratons and seven
W-branded hotels. The malware targeted cardholder names, card numbers,
security codes and expiration dates.

Then, five days later, Hilton releaseda statement that it, too, had been thevictim of malware attacks on POSsystems at an undisclosed number ofits properties and that payment cardinformation had been accessed.Two days before Christmas, itwas Hyatt’s turn to disclose thatcybercriminals going after paymentcard information had targeted itshotels. In that breach, POS sys-tems at restaurants, spas, golf shops,parking facilities and a “limitednumber” of front desks were affected.

Within the span of 34 days, three
of the most recognized companies in
the hotel industry announced major
breaches of customer payment data.
But they weren’t the first to make
such an announcement in 2015. In
July, the Trump Hotel Collection
announced it appeared to have been
the victim of malware attacks on POS